One of the most popular and intriguing big band leaders of the Swing era, Artie Shaw took jazz clarinet to a new level of artistry and celebrity. On occasion, Shaw would tour with a smaller group, his Gramercy Five, which became one of the fixtures of small group swing. Come and enjoy a rare performance of this melodic and jubilant music featuring James Danderfer clarinet, Bill Coon guitar, Sharon Minemoto piano, Max Huberdeau vibraphone, Dan Howard bass and Joe Poole drums, to be followed by a screening of Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got.

Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got (1985, 115 min)
Anchored by an incisive interview with its then 72-year-old subject, Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got looks back on the five-decade career of “King of the Clarinet” Artie Shaw (1910-2004), one of the most popular stars of the 1930s and ’40s Swing era. Brigitte Berman’s film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1985, and is screening in a new 4K restoration. Featuring: Artie Shaw, Polly Haynes, John Wexley, Lee Castle, John Best, Helen Forrest, Buddy Rich, Mel Tormé.

In an era of separate white and Black bands, Shaw broke the color barrier by hiring legendary African American musicians like Billie Holiday, Hot Lips Page and Roy Eldridge for his bands. Shaw’s restlessness and intellectual curiosity (he’d author four books of fiction and non-fiction) led him to shun celebrity and retire from show business in the late 1940s, with only occasional comebacks after. Known also as a ladies’ man, Shaw’s eight wives included actresses Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Doris Dowling, Evelyn Keyes, and novelist Kathleen Winsor, author of the notoriously racy bestseller Forever Amber.